ATV mechanical lift

Abstract

An assist mechanism for loading and unloading irregularly shaped cargo, such as for example, bags of stock feed or dead wild game (e.g. boars or deer), includes a support assembly, a boom assembly, a frame assembly, and a winch assembly. The boom assembly is movable along three axes to facilitate loading and unloading of said cargo. The support assembly is attached to the front of the vehicle using the frame assembly and associated hardware. The winch assembly includes a winch, rope and hook and is attached to the support assembly and integrated onto the boom assembly for maneuvering cargo.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A device for loading and unloading cargo onto and off of an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV), comprising: a support assembly adapted to be mounted to an ATV using a frame assembly; a boom assembly adapted to operatively traverse the load in the horizontal plane while attached to the aforementioned support assembly; a winch assembly with a manually operated mechanical winch attached to the support assembly and integrated with the boom assembly adapted to facilitate the loading and unloading of the cargo.  
     
     
         2 . A method for loading cargo onto an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV), comprising the steps of: securing the lift assembly to the ATV, the lift assembly including a support assembly adapted to be mounted to the front of an ATV using a frame assembly; a boom assembly adapted to operatively traverse the load in the horizontal plane while attached to the aforementioned support assembly; a winch assembly with manual mechanical winch attached to the support assembly and integrated with the boom assembly adapted to facilitate the loading and unloading of the cargo; securing the cargo using the attached rope and hook of the winch assembly; lifting the cargo along the first axis by manually operating the winch; rotating the cargo in the second axis by pulling or pushing on the boom assembly as appropriate; and lowering the cargo onto the ATV in the first axis by reversing the direction of travel of the winch.  
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 2 , wherein at least the lifting step is performed under automatic power.